Hezbollah says it has accomplished the primary section of a retaliatory assault on Israel with “a large number of missiles” in response to the killing of commander Fuad Shukr on the finish of July.
The Lebanese group mentioned in a press release on Sunday that it fired greater than 320 Katyusha rockets at 11 Israeli navy bases and barracks, together with the Meron base and 4 websites within the occupied Golan Heights. The response was a hotly anticipated one, weeks within the making towards Israel’s focused killings of senior commanders of Hezbollah and Hamas, mounting concern of regional escalation.
Hezbollah mentioned it focused navy bases to “facilitate the passage of drones” in direction of their desired targets deep inside Israel. “And the drones have passed as planned.”
This comes as Israel launched a collection of intense air raids on southern Lebanon early on Sunday in what it mentioned was a “preemptive” assault launched when Hezbollah’s preparation to assault northern Israel was detected.
“Most of the Israeli strikes on Lebanon were in the border area, up to 5km [3 miles] deep along the 120km [74-mile] border,” mentioned Al Jazeera’s Zeina Khodr, reporting from Lebanese city Marjayoun.
“The border area is now a military zone. It’s been evacuated … It’s been repeatedly hit by the Israeli army in recent months.”
Whereas Hezbollah and Israel have been exchanging tit-for-tat assaults throughout the border with some depth because the begin of Israel’s struggle on Gaza in October, this marks a big escalation.
A resident of the southern Lebanese city of Zibqin, some 7km (4 miles) from the border, informed the Reuters information company it was the primary time he had woke up “to the sound of planes and the loud explosions of rockets – even before the dawn prayer. It felt like the apocalypse.”
Lebanon’s NNA information company reported one particular person was critically injured in a drone assault in Qasimia and a later Israeli air assault killed one particular person within the city of Khiam.
‘Special situation’
Israel’s Defence Minister Yoav Gallant declared a “special situation” and introduced a 48-hour nationwide state of emergency from 6am (03:00 GMT) on Sunday.
Israel’s Ben Gurion airport was briefly closed within the early hours of the morning, whereas reviews emerged of some accidents in northern Israel. The Israeli military additionally introduced a collection of restrictions on civilians in northern Israel and the Golan Heights, together with the closure of some seashores.
Israel’s Military Radio, citing defence officers, mentioned the navy assessed that Hezbollah had been making ready to fireplace a whole bunch of missiles into central Israel in an assault deliberate for 5am.
About 100 Israeli jets then foiled the missile strikes, starting their assault half an hour beforehand, the report mentioned, including that the navy assessed the next Hezbollah barrage was “improvised”.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu mentioned Israel was “determined to do everything possible to defend” itself. “Whoever harms us – we harm him,” he mentioned in a press release.
Following the assaults, Al Jazeera’s Khodr mentioned: “There are reviews that this preliminary wave of assaults in southern Lebanon has now ended, so we’re ready to listen to from the Israeli navy to see whether or not or not they plan to hold out extra strikes, which might, in flip, set off a Hezbollah response and increase this battle.
“This is, and has been, a very dangerous conflict, even though largely contained, there is a real concern that it could expand and spiral out of control.”
‘Trying to avoid full-blown war’
The Israeli navy mentioned most of its assaults towards Hezbollah had been in southern Lebanon for now, however it would strike anyplace the place there’s a menace.
World concern that Israel’s struggle will escalate into an all-out regional battle multiplied after the assassination final month of Hamas political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran and of Shukr in Beirut, each blamed on Israel.
Israel’s assaults have “the potential to draw the whole region into the full-blown war”, Sami Nader, the director of the Levant Institute for Strategic Affairs, informed Al Jazeera.
He mentioned whereas this alerts a “major escalation in terms of scope of operation and intensity”, each Hezbollah and Israel “are trying to avoid full-blown war”.
Israel, he mentioned, is “exhausted” by its struggle on Gaza, and the Lebanese group doesn’t need to see a struggle just like the one which occurred in 2006 as Lebanon is in a “serious economic crisis”.
In the meantime, america mentioned on Sunday it might “keep supporting Israel’s right to defend itself”.
At President Joe Biden’s course, “senior US officials have been communicating continuously with their Israeli counterparts”, US Nationwide Safety Council spokesman Sean Savett mentioned in a press release.
Sunday’s assault got here as Egypt hosted a brand new spherical of talks aimed toward ending Israel’s struggle on Gaza, now in its eleventh month. Hezbollah has mentioned it would halt the combating if there’s a ceasefire.
No diplomatic settlement, nonetheless, seems to be taking type and “Israel is determined to change rules of engagement” that will enable a return of all Israelis who had been evacuated from northern Israel, mentioned Nader.
